Beef

Italian Beef Hits the Grill

Certain sandwiches are inextricably linked to the city where they originated. No trip to Philadelphia, for example, would be complete without a cheesesteak. You can’t go to New Orleans without stopping at Central Grocery for a muffuletta.

For me Chicago’s sandwich par excellence is the Italian beef, and Michelin star restaurants be damned, it’s the first thing I crave whenever I land in the Windy City.

What Is an Italian Beef Sandwich?

Italian beef is not barbecue. I repeat, Italian beef is not barbecue. It’s a rump roast (aka top round—cut from the rear of the steer) that’s slow-braised in the oven for hours, then sliced paper-thin on a meat slicer. (Slicing across the grain makes it tender.)

You pile the beef on a hoagie roll with plenty of the braising juices and top it with jardiniere (Italian pickled vegetables). The contrast of salty-meaty (the beef) and sour-crunchy (the pickled vegetables) combined with the broth-soaked bread make this one of the most extraordinary sandwiches you’ll ever sink your teeth into. (One of the messiest too).

So what could possibly make an extraordinary sandwich even better? Wood smoke—that’s what.

Project Smoke Meets Chicago Beef: Behind the Technique

When I was writing my book Project Smoke, I came up with a technique called smoke-braising. In a nutshell, you braise a hunk of meat not in the traditional oven, but in a smoker (kettle grills and pellet grills work equally well). The low moist heat and long slow cook render even the toughest meat tender. The smoke bronzes the beef and the broth, imparting rich umami flavors.

The result: an Italian beef sandwich than thinks its barbecue.

If you happen to live in Chicago, please don’t think I’m a heretic. I profess undying love for traditional Italian beef. But my smoked version is off-the-charts delicious too.

Try it and let us know what you think at @stevenraichlen on Instagram.

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